EU starts preliminary probe into Amazon’s treatment of merchants

European Union antitrust authorities have begun a preliminary investigation into Amazon.comInc.’s AMZN +1.11%treatment of other merchants that sell products using its platform, opening a new regulatory front against an American tech giant. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday that investigators recently sent out questionnaires to merchants that sell through Amazon. The probe focuses on whether Amazon is gaining a competitive advantage from data it gathers on every transaction and from every merchant on its platform, Ms. Vestager said. Read more…